Tricia Belstra of South Bend, Indiana, was reluctant to tell her story at first. Then, she felt she had to.
I couldn't tell this story until now.. I flew in on #southwest airlines flight 1076 on August 18th.. I was not looking…
Posted by Tricia J. Belstra on Sunday, 20 August 2017
She was on Southwest Airlines flight 1076, and she was a wreck. She looked terrible, and felt just as bad as she looked. But, really, no one could blame her at all. She was flying back to bury her son.
She took her seat between two strangers and grabbed a bag to put between her legs, because she was that sick. A flight attendant asked if she was OK, and Tricia asked for a glass of water. And she was quickly given some water.
Then a man, another attendant, was taking drink requests, and she asked for a diet Coke and some more water. He leaned in and asked Tricia if she was OK, and Tricia then told him that she was flying back home to bury her son.
He expressed his sincere sorrow and quickly brought her the diet Coke with ice and some water. Then, the woman sitting next to her offered to pour the Coke into the glass for Tricia, because her hands were trembling.
When the plane landed, someone helped Tricia with her luggage. As Tricia was exiting the plane, the young man who had brought her the diet Coke and water was waiting at the landing for her. He stopped her and expressed his deepest sympathies again. He then handed her a napkin, and said that it wasn’t much. Tricia thanked the man and walked into the airport. Then, she looked down at the napkin. On the napkin he had written some kind words of comfort. And that meant an awful lot to Tricia, a complete stranger to him, and she cried.
She later had a Father at her church bless the young man for his kindness in her time of grief, and the Father told her he was one of God’s soul angels. She never got the young man’s name, but she sure hopes her message of thanks got back to him.
